Local commercial real estate recovery gains momentum | Rogersville

The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated some commercial real estate sectors, but overall the market has rebounded. Investors have made a record number of local rentals and sales so far this year.

“43 transactions were completed in October. That was a little less than in September, but the total of 463 in the first 10 months of this year is a record, ”said Cassie Petzoldt, Chair of the Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors (NETAR) Commercial Committee. Year-to-date transactions are a 61% improvement over the first 10 months of last year.

“Local investors are more active, and more and more investors from outside the region are buying from NE Tenn’s marketplace. – SW Va. “A.” Sales and rentals have increased in all sectors as the market approaches a new annual benchmark. Entries and web traffic have also increased, she added.

The hottest sectors are office, retail-commercial, industrial, vacant and mall.

Office, retail and commercial performance contrasts with national third quarter reports. Office and retail buildings are no longer in the spotlight as they were in the past, according to the Wall Street Journal. Instead, industrial real estate and e-commerce distribution centers are among the biggest drivers of the US commercial real estate market.

Industrial transactions have been the third best local performers in the local market to date. Local agents say the number would be higher if there was more inventory. The scarcity has basically sidelined the local last mile delivery market, they claim.

Multi-family local transactions will be muted as NETAR’s report is based on local commercial listing services. Many of the larger projects are listed in the national services.

Michael Green, a NETAR board director and commercial real estate agent at Century 21 Legacy, said investors are leaving the primary and secondary markets in search of higher investment returns in tertiary markets like the Tri-Cities. Some investors offer a slightly different reason. Derek Smith, a spokesperson for Ivy Courts LLC, said, “You can sure find other areas with the potential for higher profit margins,” but that’s not of the greatest concern to us. “We’ve found a strong sense of community and want to join the communities we invest in.” The company recently invested in Ivy Court in Johnson City and “is looking at several other properties.”

The previous transactions by sector compared to the previous year are:

Retail-Commercial – 71.

Industry – 45 to 15.

Undeveloped land – 38, to 16.

Shopping center – 37 to 12.

Multi-Family – 4 to 2.

Special purpose – 2, to 2.